Swatting flies could help in stroke rehab

 Your competent? doctor already has you stomping cockroaches for your lower limbs and balance ,right?

I like the cockroach stomping game

Or this interactive carpet: Interactive carpet for stroke rehab

NO, So, PURE INCOMPETENCE!

Swatting flies could help in stroke rehab

Researchers at the US-based University of Central Florida (UCF) are working on a software program that will immerse stroke survivors in a virtual world – full of flying insects – to help patients expand their range of movement.

The virtual game would require users to put on goggles while sitting at a table. A few bugs would fly around nearby, which the patients would have to smash.

Each time they succeed, they would earn a point. As patients improve their range of motion, more bugs would appear at greater distances, forcing patients to work harder and increase their range of motion.

“It has to be fun so patients will actually do their physical therapy exercises,” said Eileen Smith, associate director of UCF’s Media Convergence Lab (MCL) at the Institute of Simulation and Training.

To create the software that can also track the user’s progress, MCL teamed up with the Virtual Reality Medical Centre (VRMC) in California.

“One of the sad things about stroke is that it is very isolating,” Smith said.

“If we can make the game fun for everyone, then maybe grandchildren will jump in while grandma is doing her exercises. Then it won’t just be a physical therapy session; it will be family time. It will help patients re-engage.”

She is collaborating with the project’s lead researcher, Charles Hughes, director of the Media Convergence Lab and a professor in UCF’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

During preliminary work, the researchers produced a viable program to track the patients’ progress.

The team is working with a doctor and a physical therapist along with VRMC to create the prototype.

VRMC plans to introduce the fully functional program to physical therapy clinics by 2009.

Mark Wiederhold, VRMC’s president, said the company would eventually market the product as a take-home program that patients could run on their computers or hand-held devices.

“The project goes with our lab’s philosophy,” Smith said.  “We don’t want to create cool widgets. We want to create things people can actually use to better their lives.”

Game that helps stroke patients recover being trialled in New Zealand

 I still prefer the cockroach stomping game, it would vastly improve your balance.

I like the cockroach stomping game

Or this interactive carpet: Interactive carpet for stroke rehab

Game that helps stroke patients recover being trialled in New Zealand 

Nearly 10,000 strokes are experienced in New Zealand every year, but now a game that helps patients recover is being trialled.

It involves the patient directing a dolphin across a floor-to-ceiling screen to catch a fish while motion-sensitive cameras track all the movements. The game gives patients a jolt which stimulates more effective brain repair.

Newshub spoke to an 81-year-old stroke patient taking part in the trial.

Related News

New Zealand research offers hope to stroke victims

New stroke rehab gets patients back in their homes

Laurie Mathews looks like he could conduct an orchestra. It's hard to believe that just three weeks ago, his left arm was basically paralysed.

"There was a tendency for me to fall over, now I can balance myself with this arm," he said.

The 81-year-old Aucklander had a stroke last month. He'd just had an angiogram and noticed his left arm going numb.

"Virtually turned into a piece of meat that I couldn't move," he said. "It was very weird, I was putting a lot of energy into my arm, and nothing was happening."

The toll has been physical and mental. It was his first - and what he hopes is his last stroke.

But before we go any further, what is a stroke? Well, a stroke normally happens when a blockage - like a clot - blocks the blood flow to the brain or when a burst blood vessel bleeds into the brain. It's essentially a brain attack.

People can be left with a drooping face weakness in the arms or legs or speaking difficulties. Then there's loss of balance, vision changes, memory loss and confusion.

Nearly 10,000 strokes are experienced each year in New Zealand - that's one every 55 minutes. And stroke is our second single-biggest killer and the leading cause of serious adult disability.

"It can be completely debilitating," said Auckland University neuroscience expert Professor Winston Byblow.

That's where this $1.5 million four-year trial can really help. Patients, like Mathews, play a specialized virtual reality game that helps rewire their brains and regain control of their nervous system.

"How it works is the camera, which is mounted just below the projector, can track Mathews's movements," Prof Byblow said.

The ones made by his affected left arm direct the dolphin to catch the fish.

"So it can build a model of his whole body. So, it uses that information to determine how well Mathews is moving, his weak side, and how to create the game so that he makes the best highest highest-quality movements possible," Prof Byblow said.

It's simple but effective. Mathews now has to do 90 minutes of upper limb therapy each weekday at Auckland University for three weeks. It's intense but, he said, worth it.

When he first arrived his arm was a dead weight which he could barely move. Today the pictures speak for themselves.

"I want to get back to what I normally do, what I could do," he said.

"As their function improves, it is really heartening to see just their confidence and forward planning that they can have a meaningful life after this life-changing event," said therapist Maxine Shanks.

Sixty patients have now taken part in the trial and it's hoped another 20 will complete it before next year. Patients can start as early as one week after their stroke. And finish, like Mathews, rehabilitated and with hope.

"He is a star," Prof Byblow exclaimed.

DNA nanobots deliver drugs in living cockroaches

With this the tPA bolus could be vastly reduced, almost eliminating the chances of a bleed, and for hemorrhages it could deliver clotting material.  But our fucking failures of stroke associations don't do a damn thing with stroke research so nothing ever gets better for stroke survivors. There is NO LEADERSHIP AND NO STRATEGY for anything to do with stroke. Prove me wrong.

DNA nanobots deliver drugs in living cockroaches

By Sarah Spickernell

8 April 2014

As much computing power as a Commodore 64

(Image: Daly and Newton/Getty Images)

It’s a computer – inside a cockroach. Nano-sized entities made of DNA that are able to perform the same kind of logic operations as a silicon-based computer have been introduced into a living animal.

The DNA computers – known as origami robots because they work by folding and unfolding strands of DNA – travel around the insect’s body and interact with each other, as well as the insect’s cells. When they uncurl, they can dispense drugs carried in their folds.

“DNA nanorobots could potentially carry out complex programs that could one day be used to diagnose or treat diseases with unprecedented sophistication,” says Daniel Levner, a bioengineer at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

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Levner was part of a team that made the nanobots by exploiting the binding properties of DNA. When it meets a certain kind of protein, DNA unravels into two complementary strands. By creating particular sequences, the strands can be made to unravel on contact with specific molecules – say, those on a diseased cell. When the molecule unravels, out drops the package wrapped inside.

A bug’s life

The team has now injected various kinds of nanobots into cockroaches. Because the nanobots are labelled with fluorescent markers, the researchers can follow them and analyse how different robot combinations affect where substances are delivered. The team says the accuracy of delivery and control of the nanobots is equivalent to a computer system.

“This is the first time that biological therapy has been able to match how a computer processor works,” says co-author Ido Bachelet of the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials at Bar Ilan University.

“Unlike electronic devices, which are suitable for our watches, our cars or phones, we can use these robots in life domains, like a living cockroach,” says Ángel Goñi Moreno of the National Center for Biotechnology in Madrid, Spain. “This opens the door for environmental or health applications.”

DNA has already been used for storing large amounts of information and circuits for amplifying chemical signals, but these applications are rudimentary compared with the potential benefits of the origami robots.

Commodore cockroach

The number of nanobots in the study – more than in previous experiments – makes it particularly promising, says Bachelet. “The higher the number of robots present, the more complex the decisions and actions that can be achieved. If you reach a certain threshold of capability, you can perform any kind of computation. In this case, we have gone past that threshold,” he says.

The team says it should be possible to scale up the computing power in the cockroach to that of an 8-bit computer, equivalent to a Commodore 64 or Atari 800 from the 1980s. Goni-Moreno agrees that this is feasible. “The mechanism seems easy to scale up so the complexity of the computations will soon become higher,” he says.

An obvious benefit of this technology would be cancer treatments, because these must be cell-specific and current treatments are not well-targeted. But a treatment like this in mammals must overcome the immune response triggered when a foreign object enters the body.

Bachelet is confident that the team can enhance the robots’ stability so that they can survive in mammals. “There is no reason why preliminary trials on humans can’t start within five years,” he says.

Journal reference: Nature Nanotechnology, DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2014.58

Can a virtual kayak ride speed up stroke recovery?

Of course it can. But what do you think the chances are of your hospital acquiring this? I'd say zero. I still think the cockroach stomping game is better at least for balance and lower limbs.  But I bet your hospital doesn't have that and they should have known about it for almost 10 years.

Can a virtual kayak ride speed up stroke recovery?

A new motion-sensor video game can help patients recovering from a stroke improve their motor skills and affected arm movements at home while checking in periodically with a therapist via telehealth.

After a stroke, patients may lose feeling in an arm or experience weakness and reduced movement that limits their ability to complete basic daily activities.

Traditional rehabilitation therapy is very intensive, time-consuming, and can be both expensive and inconvenient, especially for rural patients traveling long distances to in-person therapy appointments.

The game-based therapy, called Recovery Rapids, led to improved outcomes similar to a highly regarded form of in-person therapy, known as constraint-induced therapy, while only requiring one-fifth of the therapist hours. The approach saves time and money while increasing convenience and safety as telehealth has boomed in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As an occupational therapist, I have seen patients from rural areas drive more than an hour to come to an in-person clinic three to four days a week, where the rehab is very intensive, taking three to four hours per session, and the therapist must be there the whole time,” says Rachel Proffitt, assistant professor in the University of Missouri School of Health Professions.

“With this new at-home gaming approach, we are cutting costs for the patient and reducing time for the therapist while still improving convenience and overall health outcomes, so it’s a win-win. By saving time for the therapists, we can also now serve more patients and make a broader impact on our communities.”

Traditional rehab home exercises tend to be very repetitive and monotonous, and patients rarely adhere to them. The Recovery Rapids game helps patients look forward to rehabilitation by completing various challenges in a fun, interactive environment, and the researchers found that the patients adhered well to their prescribed exercises.

“The patient is virtually placed in a kayak, and as they go down the river, they perform arm motions simulating paddling, rowing, scooping up trash, swaying from side to side to steer, and reaching overhead to clear out spider webs and bats, so it’s making the exercises fun,” Proffitt says.

“As they progress, the challenges get harder, and we conduct check-ins with the participants via telehealth to adjust goals, provide feedback and discuss the daily activities they want to resume as they improve.”

Nearly 800,000 Americans have a stroke each year according to the Centers for Disease Control, and two-thirds of stroke survivors report they cannot use their affected limbs to do normal daily activities, including making a cup of coffee, cooking a meal, or playing with grandchildren.

“I am passionate about helping patients get back to all the activities they love to do in their daily life,” Proffitt says. “Anything we can do as therapists to help in a creative way while saving time and money is the ultimate goal.”

The study appears in the journal eClinicalMedicine.

Source: University of Missouri

Original Study DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101239

 

Pilot Long-term Evaluation of Competitive and Cooperative ExerciseGames in Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation

I still prefer the cockroach stomping game. Maybe create a fly swatting or mosquito swatting game for the upper extremity.   These are boring.

Pilot Long-term Evaluation of Competitive and Cooperative Exercise Games in Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation

Maja Goršič, Imre Cikajlo, Metka Javh, Nika Goljar and Domen Novak, Member, IEEE

Abstract—Interpersonal rehabilitation games, which allow patients to compete or cooperate with other patients or unimpaired loved ones, have demonstrated promising short-term results, but have not yet been tested in longer-term studies. This paper thus presents a preliminary 9-session evaluation of interpersonal rehabilitation games for post-stroke arm exercise. Two pairs of stroke survivors were provided with a system that included one competitive and one cooperative rehabilitation game, and exercised with it for 9 sessions in addition to their conventional therapy. They were able to choose the game they wanted to play in each session, and had to exercise for at least 10 minutes per session. Both pairs completed the protocol without any issues, reporting high levels of motivation and consistent levels of exercise intensity (measured using inertial sensors) across the sessions.Furthermore, the maximum difficulty levels reached in the cooperative game increased over time, and improvements of 1-8 points were observed on the Box and Block test.These results indicate that 2 different interpersonal games are sufficient to promote high levels of motivation and exercise intensity for 9 sessions performed over a 3-week period. As the next step, our system will be expanded with additional competitive, cooperative and single-player games, then tested in full clinical trials in both clinical and home environments. 

Development of a 3D, networked multi-user virtual reality environment for home therapy after stroke

I still prefer the cockroach stomping game. Maybe create a fly swatting or mosquito swatting game for the upper extremity. 

Development of a 3D, networked multi-user virtual reality environment for home therapy after stroke

 Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation , Volume 15(88)

NARIC Accession Number: J79960.  What's this?
ISSN: 1743-0003.
Author(s): Triandafilou, Kristen M.; Tsoupikova, Daria; Barry, Alexander J.; Thielbar, Kelly N.; Stoykov, Nikolay; Kamper, Derek G..
Project Number: H133E070013.
Publication Year: 2018.
Number of Pages: 13.
Abstract: Article describes the development and testing of a three-dimensional (3D) virtual-reality environment (VRE) for home-based therapy in which multiple, remote users can interact in real time. Within this Virtual Environment for Rehabilitative Gaming Exercises (VERGE) system, stroke survivors can interact with therapists and/or fellow stroke survivors in the same virtual space even though they may be physically remote. Each user’s own movement controls an avatar through kinematic measurements made with a low-cost, Kinect™ device. The system was explicitly designed to train movements important to rehabilitation and to provide real-time feedback of performance to users and clinicians. A pilot evaluation study examined whether the VERGE system reduced arm movement in stroke survivors in comparison to two other therapy modalities used for home therapy: an existing virtual-reality system based on the Alice in Wonderland story (AWVR) and a home exercise program (HEP). Fifteen stroke survivors with chronic upper-extremity hemiparesis completed a three-week intervention in a laboratory setting. Each week, participants performed three one-hour training sessions with one of three modalities (VERGE, AWVR, or HEP). More than 85 percent of the subjects found the VERGE system to be an effective means of promoting repetitive practice of arm movement. Arm displacement averaged 350 m for each VERGE training session. Arm displacement was not significantly less when using VERGE than when using AWVR or HEP. Participants were split on preference for VERGE, AWVR, or HEP. Importantly, almost all subjects indicated a willingness to perform the training for at least 2 to 3 days per week at home.
Descriptor Terms: BIOENGINEERING, BODY MOVEMENT, COMPUTER APPLICATIONS, EXERCISE, HEMIPLEGIA, HOME CARE, INTERVENTION, LIMBS, MOTOR SKILLS, PHYSICAL THERAPY, REHABILITATION, STROKE, THERAPEUTIC TRAINING.


Can this document be ordered through NARIC's document delivery service*?: Y.
Get this Document: https://jneuroengrehab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12984-018-0429-0.

Citation: Triandafilou, Kristen M., Tsoupikova, Daria, Barry, Alexander J., Thielbar, Kelly N., Stoykov, Nikolay, Kamper, Derek G.. (2018). Development of a 3D, networked multi-user virtual reality environment for home therapy after stroke.  Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation , 15(88) Retrieved 1/25/2019, from REHABDATA database.

Are there ground-up cockroaches in your coffee?

So you get a little extra protein in your coffee, buy whole beans and grind them yourself.  Is this one of the ingredients that makes coffee so healthy for you? My eighth post on cockroaches, all the rest are on the cockroach stomping video game.

Are there ground-up cockroaches in your coffee?

Kimi Harris

June 14, 2013, 3:43 p.m.

You might find you have a preference for coffee beans after reading this. (Photo: portumen/Shutterstock)

Several years ago NPR featured Dr. Douglas Emlen, an entomologist, to discuss dung beetles. (NPR makes even bugs interesting to the average listener!) At the end of the interview Emlen threw in an extra tidbit of information: pre-ground coffee contains ground-up cockroaches.

He learned this years ago when he was driving around with a professor who was an entomologist and biologist. They kept driving way out of their way to get coffee made from freshly ground whole coffee beans (it was before the days of Starbucks and local artisan coffee shops) as this professor was addicted to caffeine and insisted on only drinking coffee made from freshly ground coffee beans. Emlen was teasing him about how much time they were losing in travel time, when the professor told him the reason he had to find coffee made from whole beans. It turns out he was allergic to cockroaches, and pre-ground coffee contains ground-up cockroaches and caused an allergic reaction when he drank it.

If that doesn’t make you wince a little, I admire you. Or despise you. I am not sure which.

This happens with coffee because the large piles of coffee beans get infested with cockroaches and, according to Emlen, it is impossible to remove them completely. So they are simply ground up with the coffee beans. (If you want to hear the full story,listen to the interview starting at the 34-minute mark). Bug parts in coffee (and other foods) are allowed by the FDA as long as they don't make up more than a certain percentage.

On the one hand, Americans and Europeans are too easily grossed-out by bugs. The fact that other cultures eat them with relish, and the fact that they are an excellent source of protein and certain nutrients (some call them the "food of the future"), does nothing to take the squeamish factor out of bug eating for us. There's often bug residue around us and in our food that we are just not aware of. In some ways, we just have to get used to the fact that bugs are part of our world and our food system.

On the other hand, cockroaches ground up in coffee is simply gross, and, perhaps even more importantly, are an allergen to many. There is a growing awareness that cockroaches adversely affect many, and it is now known to be a trigger for asthma and allergies.

It also begs the question: when people react negatively to coffee, is the cause the coffee bean or the cockroach?

Thankfully you can avoid this by buying whole bean coffee. I recommend organic, because coffee is a highly sprayed crop, and also fair trade, to ensure fair prices are being paid to coffee growers.

A favorite method of making coffee in Portland for many is using the beautiful Chemex pour over method. Serious coffee connoisseurs who enjoy pour over coffee also use this lovely coffee drip kettle when making coffee using the pour over method. And since I am sure many of you will be picking up whole coffee beans rather than pre-ground, you need a coffee grinder! Many coffee shops in Portland recommend ceramic coffee grinders. My sister-in-law just was telling me that she got one as a wedding gift and loves it because you have so much control over the grind.

The Clemson entrepreneurs behind Recovr help stroke survivors with a video game

I still prefer the cockroach stomping game.

The Clemson entrepreneurs behind Recovr help stroke survivors with a video game

For stroke victims, therapy can be physically and mentally exhausting as they repeat the same workouts day in and day out just to regain their ability to complete the simplest of tasks, such as picking up a pencil.
But Clemson’s Recovr Inc. is turning physical therapy into a game, not a chore.

Five years ago, Austen Hayes, then a graduate student at Clemson University’s College of Engineering and Science, and Larry Hodges, a computing professor, teamed up and created the computer game “Duck, Duck, Punch.”
The game aims to improve the arm mobility of stroke patients, who sit or stand in front of a television or computer and hit rubber ducks as they go by on the screen. When patients reach out, a virtual arm on the screen knocks down the ducks, earning them points.
“We’re on the cusp of something big,” says Hayes, the company’s CEO. “There is a $17-billion stroke rehabilitation market in the U.S. alone. The need for this kind of therapy is expected to more than double by 2030, according to the National Stroke Association.”
About 800,000 strokes happen each year in the United States, with more than 7 million survivors suffering a long-term stroke disability. In many cases, stroke patients become discouraged when they can’t perform the tasks they once completed easily and discontinue their treatment after leaving therapy.
Patients usually do only 10 percent of the recommended daily therapy exercises, Hayes says. “Duck, Duck, Punch,” which can be played in hospitals and homes, has increased their exercise repetitions during pilot studies.
“It has just blown away therapists that patients are following up on their own between therapy sessions,” Hayes says. Some studies have revealed at least a 15 percent improvement in arm mobility in one week of using the game.
When Greenville resident Nancy Bunch suffered a stroke, she spent weeks in recovery, unable to move her arm. Then her therapist had her play the game, and one year later, she was able to drive herself to the grocery store.
“This really needs to be in hospitals all around the country,” Bunch says. “For me, it represented hope, hope for the hopeless. I am so thankful.”
The company recently received approval from the FDA to market the game as a medical device, now called the Recovr Rehabilitation System. It allows therapists to use the game to record patient progress and provide analytic data.
Recovr has received thousands of dollars in startup capital from Greenville’s Concepts to Companies, a firm that focuses on transforming academic ideas into commercial enterprise by investing capital and offering business expertise.
“It shows that South Carolina has high-quality intellectual capital. There is a huge need for this kind of product, and it’s growing. We’re expecting big things from Recovr,” says John Warner, Concepts to Companies founder and Recovr Inc. director.
The game is currently used by the Medical University of South Carolina and various other facilities throughout the country.
Hayes says Recovr plans to expand by creating new games that could help patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and more.

Game doubles as stroke app using iPhone’s Force Touch & robotics to deliver rehab

All these positive statements but yet I never see any publicly published protocols on any of these. Because we have NO stroke leadership or strategy anywhere in stroke. If we had a great stroke association we would have cutting edge interviews asking where are the protocols and when will it be delivered to stroke departments?  This won't occur in your lifetime, your childrens' lifetime or even your grandchildrens' lifetime. We are all fucking screwed basically forever.

I still prefer the cockroach stomping game.

Game doubles as stroke app using iPhone’s Force Touch & robotics to deliver rehab

A team of physicians, developers, artists, and programmers are developing and testing a gaming app, Bandit’s Shark Showdown, to both improve recovery in stroke patients and maybe even make it fun.
There are a lot of stroke apps out there, from aids to help patients recognizing potential stroke signs to decision support tools for diagnosis. Featured in a recent profile in The New Yorker, neurologist Dr. John Krakauer expressed his frustration with the limitations of traditional post-stroke rehabilitation and hopes to unlock the potential of robotic therapy combined with cutting-edge interactive entertainment. He has helped found the “Brain, Learning, Animation, Movement lab”(BLAM), a “Pixar-grade” team of engineers, designers, artists and programmers that work with clinicians to use the best of art and science further research on the brain.

One of their studies involves investigating motor recovery as part of stroke rehabilitation. This is done through utilizing a combination of the game, Bandit’s Shark Showdown, with a robotic arm, the Hocoma ArmeoPower, to encourage intensive game-based therapy. Instead of traditional rehabilitation where the focus is often task-based, the focus here is simply on movement in a virtual environment, directing a dolphin through various challenges like battling dangerous sharks and other enemies.
Three members of BLAM, who also own an indie gaming company called Max and Haley, designed Bandit’s Shark Showdown. In fact, it wasn’t really designed as a medical app. Rather, they had already been in the business of designing apps based on animal movements and were working with the National Aquarium in Baltimore to design a game based on dolphin movements.
They’re also testing the use of Force Touch in the game according to an interview in the Verge. Players (patients recovering from strokes) have to apply varying levels of pressure to control their dolphin as it goes after sharks. They hope that this can help users work on balancing force and dexterity, offering yet another tool for recovery.
After a cerebral vascular accident, several mechanisms have been traditionally postulated to allow to motor recovery. These include neural plasticity with periinfact reorganization (undamaged regions of the brain taking over for damaged regions), diaschisis (regions remote from infarcted location are initially deactivated but later recover), and ipsilateral/contralateral hemisphere activity (inhibition and excitability) ¹. The majority of motor recovery after a stroke is thought to occur within the first 3 months. This is an ideal time for Acute Rehabilitation, where a team consisting of a rehabilitation physician, therapists (physical, occupational, and speech), neuropsychologist, nursing, social workers and more attempt to maximize functional outcomes for post-stroke survivors.
Current approaches to therapy during this time include increasing attention to the affected paretic region, while in the past having focused on compensatory strategies. Techniques such as Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) have been utilized, supported by recently published clinical trials.
However, as noted by Dr. Krakauer, the ability to provide enough high-intensity and frequency of such therapy may be limited in some post-stroke care environments. Apps offer an opportunity here and while there are many available, the quality of these stroke apps has been found to be lacking. Robotics offer an intriguing avenue to increase the frequency of such therapy and combining this with an immersive game, such as Bandit’s Shark Showdown, may offer even more benefits. The upcoming clinical trial of this technology through BLAM, with stroke patients at Columbia University and a clinic in Zurich, is certainly exciting and is one to follow for all interested in neuro-rehabilitation.
Check out Bandit’s Shark Showdown on iTunes

A Johns Hopkins Scientist is Using Virtual Dolphins to Rehab Stroke Patients [Video]

Will your doctor ever try anything newer than medical school?

I don't know I still like stomping roaches to get some aggression out.

A Johns Hopkins Scientist is Using Virtual Dolphins to Rehab Stroke Patients [Video]

"If you have a stroke in the United States in 2014, you're better off if you're a rodent than if you're a human being," Johns Hopkins University neuroscientist John Krakauer said when delivering his presentation "Motor Recovery After Stroke in Mice and Men" at a brain science research seminar. The rehabilitation therapies we use nowadays are medieval, he continued on to say, making it loud and clear that now, "it's time for a revolution."
The 47-year-old, whose medical career is nothing to be scoffed at, is ready to accept the challenge of redefining the world of physical therapy, too, with the creation of a new kind of healer equipped with a set of fins.
Krakauer, who studies movement and human obsession with movement, worked with Johns Hopkins software architects Omar Ahmad and Promit Roy as well as Baltimore artist Kat McNally to develop the video game "I Am Dolphin," which he believes could have applications in therapy, especially for stroke victims.
An accomplished neuroscientist, Krakauer first joined Johns Hopkins in 2010 to set up a center for stroke recovery research, including the BLAM lab (an acronym which stands for brain, learning, animation and movement), which explains why he would want to create a more effective post-stroke rehabilitation solution. His advanced knowledge of the disease that afflicts nearly 800,000 people across the United States each year and understanding of the economic burden associated with stroke victims (just about $37 billion in care a year) makes him the man best fit for the job.
That paired with his appreciation for "the beauty and braininess" of movement is what led Krakauer to create a simulated dolphin named Bandit for healing purposes.
Bandit is based on three real bottlenose dolphins housed in the National Aquarium that were studied for hundreds of hours and then transformed into digital form. According to National Geographic, the simple movement of a stroke patient's arm in a robotic sling will alter the movement of the virtual dolphin on the screen, allowing Bandit to swim, catch fish and then swallow its dinner just like a real dolphin in the wild.
The player feels as if they're one with the dolphin, Omar Ahmad, director of the Kata Project behind "I Am Dolphin," explained to National Geographic. "It's visceral feedback; every subtle movement you do is reflected in the dolphin," he said. Fair warning: it's addictive, too.
As for how an aquatic video game could help with brain healing, Krakauer says an injured brain from a stroke can reconfigure itself, but only during a sensitive post-stroke period window that lasts one to three months. (He may be smart but he's totally wrong here) So in the clinical trials with Bandit, the game will be used during that critical time of plasticity when the brain is actually capable of self-repair. And if successful in helping stroke patients recover lost motor function faster than traditional therapy used today, Krakauer's dream of revolutionizing conventional physical therapy practices could very well become a reality.
This isn't the first time video games has been used in rehab. In fact, another member of the Johns Hopkins community, Ph.D. student Xiaoxu Kang, launched her own startup Rehabtics in October 2012 that uses virtual technology to make the physical therapy experience more fun.
Rehabtics' new software program called ArmSPOT leverages gaming technology to better engage patients and make them more interested in their rehab exercises. Motion cameras transform patients into avatars onto their computer screens, allowing them to do their physical therapy routines in a relaxing atmosphere, like on the beaches of St. Lucia or in a jungle safari.
So perhaps there is promise for "I Am Dolphin." Try it out for yourself by purchasing the game released through iTunes October 9 for $2.99.

Portable virtual reality rehab for stroke victims

And when will your hospital start using newer technologies like this? Do they even know such technologies exist?

I still like the cockroach stomping game

PolyU-developed "KineLabs" Adds Fun to Stroke Rehabilitation and Elderly Exercise  

 
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-12-portable-virtual-reality-rehab-victims.html
A portable virtual reality device improves neuroplasticity for quicker recovery. It is conquering hospitals around the world. It is being validated by the CHUV hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland and soon by the Stanford Stroke Center in the United States.

The Mindmaze platform, developed by a spin-off of the EPFL, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, is the first to enable the rehabilitation and personalized tracking of people affected by a stroke through fun and stimulating virtual reality exercises. The patient can practice alone, pause to recover, and resume as many times as necessary. It is now possible to maximize hours of training per day to ensure a better recovery. The device, named MindPlayPRO, also allows clinicians and caregivers to effectively handle several patients simultaneously. The start-up is set to receive a second Business Angels investment of half a million Swiss francs after the 2.7 million collected in 2012. It is also poised to complete a major round of financing.
Placed at the patient's bedside, the MindPlayPRO system has two screens on articulated arms. Caregivers can program the machine and obtain data from a high-resolution camera and track patient progress. The patient screen shows the 3D avatar of the patient with an exercise to perform – for example, to hit a target at the middle of a colored circle. The accuracy required can be adapted according to the patient's specific challenges. Just as with video games, successfully completing a task wins points. New cognitive exercises are being developed, which increase the gameplay along with the sophistication of training. The results allow both the medical team and the patient to track progress and adjust tasks accordingly.

More and video at link.

New 3-D software for stroke & early dementia patients

I think I prefer the cockroach stomping software. This is boring.

New 3-D software for stroke & early dementia patients

SINGAPORE - A new three-dimensional software has been developed to test and rehabilitate brain function in stroke and early dementia patients.

The virtual reality simulation program is developed by doctors from the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) and staff from the Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS).

The software works like an interactive game - simulating real-life situations that Asian patients can easily relate to. These include activities such as going to a supermarket for groceries and choosing ingredients to prepare breakfast.

The program rewards patients with instant feedback and sound effects and has different complexity levels to match different abilities.

As the patient performs different tasks with the computer controls, data from his or her actions and decisions are tracked and captured.

NNI plans to implement the virtual reality simulation program next year at all its clinics which specialise in the assessment and diagnosis of memory disorders.

There are also plans to extend the service to patients at regional hospitals through the tele-health infrastructure that IHiS is setting up.

Neuron signalling and cockroaches

By dissecting a cockroach ... yes, live on stage ... TED Fellow and neuroscientist Greg Gage shows how brains receive and deliver electric impulses -- and how legs can respond.

Neuron signalling and cockroaches

PolyU-developed "KineLabs" Adds Fun to Stroke Rehabilitation and Elderly Exercise

Just think, if your stroke association was any good they would jump all over this free software platform and make it available to their members.  I could really get into the competitive aspect of killing cockroaches.  Do I need pointy-toed shoes? Worldwide competition anyone? They're speedy little things so trying to stomp them with your affected foot would be quite a challenge. And staying upright might be even harder.

 Contacts at the bottom.

PolyU-developed "KineLabs" Adds Fun to Stroke Rehabilitation and Elderly Exercise

 
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) announced the release of a free software platform called "KineLabs" with three rehabilitation games for elderly people and persons after stroke to have fun while enhancing their motor skills in a 3D virtual environment.
This innovation has recently won a Silver Award in the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2012: Best Innovation & Research Award. Heading the research team is rehabilitation engineering expert and an Associate Professor in the field of Biomedical Engineering Dr Raymond Tong Kai-yu, with team members Dr Fong Ching-hang, Mr Lawrence Chong Kwok-wai and Mr Nathan Lam Kim-fung.
Dr Raymond Tong conceived this out-of-the-box idea of using kinetic game sensor in stroke rehabilitation settings, where patients and elderly people are often required to repeat monotonous body movement on the way to recovery. Using a Kinect sensor which captures depth data for reforming the body skeleton and tracks down the precise movement, PolyU researchers have developed a series of fun-filled games with a local favour for upper limb and lower limb motion, such as making egg tart, cleaning the window panes of a tram, and even killing cockroaches.
The kinematic exercise games are no simple tasks for stroke patients, who are required to lift up their hands and move their upper limbs to the extent of meeting a therapist's pre-set standard. What is more, the system can capture the slightest deviation and give a report on the success rate of performing different tasks – for their own convalescence. PolyU has also several stroke patients to try the interactive games and provide feedbacks.
"This project aims at optimising this innovative technology in order to benefit the elderly and persons with motor disability after stroke for rehabilitation and improvement of their quality of life," Dr Raymond Tong said, "our system can promote healthy ageing and interactive rehabilitation training at home, hospital and elderly centres."
The basic technical requirement for playing the games is to have a Kinect sensor connected with a general PC with a TV or computer screen. Following the launch, members of the public can download a free copy of the interactive game from the dedicated webpage at URL: http://myweb.polyu.edu.hk/~kinelabs/.
With the support of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), the project initiated by the University's Jockey Club Rehabilitation Engineering Centre was kicked off in 2011 with seed money provided by the "Development of Assistive Technology for Persons with Disabilities Fund".
Press contact: Dr Raymond Tong
Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering
Tel: (852) 2766 7662
Email: k.y.tong(at)polyu.edu.hk